DICE’s general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson believes that the appeal of first-person-shooters set in the modern day may be dwindling.

“I think we’re going to start seeing people moving away from the modern setting, because every now and again settings or themes start to get stale and then everyone jumps over,” he told Edge. “You know, at some point dinosaurs are the hottest thing and everyone is making games with dinosaurs, but there are trends. It used to be WWII, and recently it’s been the modern era and people are now moving towards near future.”

However, Troedsson doesn’t believe that a simple setting switch is enough to reinvigorate first-person-shooters.

“But it’s a bit cheap to just say, ‘Okay, we’re going to switch and go back in time or into the future and that will be innovation’. It will definitely drive the franchise forward for whatever game, but it’s not true innovation, it’s more a thematic change that has a perceived value to the gamers out there. But as a developer you can only make so many games in one particular era, and then you personally start to get a bit bored with it.”

“I think it’s our responsibility as game developers to always push ourselves when it comes to the experience of games,” he concluded.

When a setting is repeated too many times fans are going to get bored, it happened with World War II and now it’s happening with the modern day. A simple move to the near future offers developers new tools, weapons and environments to play with, this reinvigorates fans and makes the genre interesting again, at least for a while.

About Matthew Bennett

Matt is one of the longest-serving members of the EGMNOW team. An ability to go many hours without sleep and a quick wit make him ideal for his role as associate editor at EGMNOW.com. He often thinks back to the days when the very idea of this career seemed like nothing but an impossible dream. Find him on Twitter @mattyjb89

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DICE – Modern Day FPS Setting is Getting Stale

DICE's general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson believes that the appeal of first-person-shooters set in the modern-day may be dwindling.

DICE’s general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson believes that the appeal of first-person-shooters set in the modern day may be dwindling.

“I think we’re going to start seeing people moving away from the modern setting, because every now and again settings or themes start to get stale and then everyone jumps over,” he told Edge. “You know, at some point dinosaurs are the hottest thing and everyone is making games with dinosaurs, but there are trends. It used to be WWII, and recently it’s been the modern era and people are now moving towards near future.”

However, Troedsson doesn’t believe that a simple setting switch is enough to reinvigorate first-person-shooters.

“But it’s a bit cheap to just say, ‘Okay, we’re going to switch and go back in time or into the future and that will be innovation’. It will definitely drive the franchise forward for whatever game, but it’s not true innovation, it’s more a thematic change that has a perceived value to the gamers out there. But as a developer you can only make so many games in one particular era, and then you personally start to get a bit bored with it.”

“I think it’s our responsibility as game developers to always push ourselves when it comes to the experience of games,” he concluded.

When a setting is repeated too many times fans are going to get bored, it happened with World War II and now it’s happening with the modern day. A simple move to the near future offers developers new tools, weapons and environments to play with, this reinvigorates fans and makes the genre interesting again, at least for a while.

About Matthew Bennett

Matt is one of the longest-serving members of the EGMNOW team. An ability to go many hours without sleep and a quick wit make him ideal for his role as associate editor at EGMNOW.com. He often thinks back to the days when the very idea of this career seemed like nothing but an impossible dream. Find him on Twitter @mattyjb89